Spruce and Willow Home features eclectic collections

Spruce and Willow Decor, dba the Spruce and Willow Home (SWH) store at 133 N. Wenatchee Ave., features antiques, used, vintage, rustic, new and repurposed items for the shopping public to enjoy and purchase. All told, an eclectic mix of just about everything for the discerning decorator and or knick knacks collector.
Manager LaPerria Velazquez said the shop opened on "Black Friday," Nov. 25 and did quite well throughout December. January and February also had consistently good sales.
"We love our location near the The Coast Wenatchee Center Hotel and downtown Wenatchee Convention Center," she said. Vendor stalls are valued at $1.85 a square foot and range in size and cost from $50 a month to $300 a month. The good news for owners Steve and Janet Wells is that there are no spaces available, but by sometime next summer another section will be opened allowing 450 more square feet, according to Velazquez, so more vendors can get on the waiting list.
Vendors also pay a percentage of their sales to SWH. Janet Wells states, "We are within the average of all antique malls" as far as percentage of sales commissions is concerned.
In the everyday world, Steve is a CAM programmer for Pacific Aerospace and Electronics and Jan is a secretary at Cashmere Middle School.
Some of the cost of refurbishing the old building in order to create this amiable and inviting space, was absorbed by the Wells' who helped recycle architectural items from the deconstruction process.
Both sides of the Wells' families have been business owners for many years and both had an interest in antiques most of their lives and have also been antique dealers for many years.
"We loved the building. Jan's family has history there and her great uncle, Don Isenhart, owned a furniture store there. Jan also lived upstairs in one of the apartments for a few years and was also a vendor at the previous antique mall for five years.
Steve's mom owned her own retail store for over 35 years and Jan always helped with the buying, she enjoyed working with the public and had a passion to have her own store. "We felt it would be a great opportunity to provide this type of store with amazing vendors in that location and the building that had special history," said the couple.
"We put in a lot of time, hard work and fun and recycled a lot of material to help with the cost," the couple said of their new space without divulging actual investment figures.
The fledgling company goes up against stiff competition in the antiques, new and used goods retail environment that is Wenatchee, but the Wells' greatly aided their own efforts at success by joining both the Wenatchee Valley Chamber of Commerce and the Wenatchee Downtown Association.
"Our goal is to help customers be happy with their purchase and our vendors to be successful," concluded Jan Wells.
The store is open Monday thru Saturday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Sunday noon to 4 p.m. Visit the SWH website: spruceandwillowhome.com or call 509-888-5286 for more information.